Pappas’ triple lifts Panathinaikos over the champions

In a rematch of last year’s playoffs series, a thriller that went all the way to the final buzzer, Nikos Pappas his a three-pointer with 1.2 seconds on the clock to lift Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens to a thrilling 70-68 win over the visiting Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul on Friday. Both teams now hold 2-2 records in the standings. In the first 39 minutes of the game, Panathinaikos had only one, brief first-quarter lead, as Brad Wanamaker and Nicolo Melli paced the visitors. Fenerbahce kept in front in the second half, but did not gain separation before Pappas went to work, scoring 9 of his 24 points in the final 2:30 of the game, including the game-winner. Nick Calathes contributed with 12 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals in victory, but no other Greens’ player scored more than 6 points. Jan Vesely scored 15 points for Fenerbahce, Melli collected 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, while Wanamaker had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Luigi Datome netted 13 points in defeat.

Fenerbahce was sound offensively early on, with consecutive triples from Wanamaker and Melli. Calathes had a three-point play, and James Gist fought his way for a pair of inside baskets, but Wanamaker from long range, followed Vesely and Marko Guduric from closer, put the visitors up 11-15. Panathinaikos stayed in touch thanks to its offensive rebounding, then went in front 19-17 on a three-point play by K.C. Rivers and a triple from Marcus Denmon. However, Melli and Wanamaker hit jumpers to end first quarter, 19-21, then Melli made a pair of baskets to start the second to keep Fenerbahce in front. Kostas Sloukas orchestrated the visitors' offense, and found Vesely for an alley-oop dunk plus free throw that helped increase the lead to 24-32. After a Panathinaikos timeout, Lukas Lekavicius and Kenny Gabriel answered with back-to-back triples, but Datome matched them and a driving layup by Sloukas gave Fenerbahce 36-44 halftime lead.

The Greens started cutting into the deficit with a runner by Pappas and a triple from Chris Singleton in the third quarter. Datome hit from mid-range for the visitors as the pace slowed down and defenses took over. Melli made a nice move inside, but Pappas had a pair of fastbreak baskets and Calathes scored 5 points, including a three-point play, as Panathinaikos cut to within 51-52. Melli banked in a triple from the wing that helped Fenerbahce take 53-55 lead after three quarters, before a Vesely put-back and a Datome triple made it 55-60 early in the fourth. Players from both teams went to the free throw line often, which also put Gist on one side, and Melli and Thompson on the other, in to foul trouble. Thanasis Antetokounmpo brought Panathinaikos much needed energy, and his put-back trimmed the deficit to 61-62 with 4:30 left. Vesely made 2 free throws and got a lucky roll on a tough close-range shot. After a Panathinaikos timeout, it was the Nikos Pappas show. He nailed a triple to make it 64-66 with 2:30 to go, then a couple of possessions later, he drove the baseline for a layup plus free throw that gave the Greens their first lead since the first quarter, 67-66. Datome made two free throws in the final minute for the visitors to regain the lead, and after defensive stands on both ends, Panathinaikos had 11 seconds to go for victory. Calathes got the ball to Pappas on the wing, and he swished a step-back triple with time running out. Fenerbahce had 1.2 seconds and a timeout, after which the inbound pass went to Sloukas, who missed a tough mid-range shot at the buzzer, prompting a huge celebration in Athens.

Head Coaches

PASCUAL, XAVI

Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens

“I think in the second half we played defense as we have to play, and if we want to do something this season we have to play defense like this. They scored 24 points. I think it was the key of the game, changed the mentality. The team needed a game like this, to get more confidence for the future. So, it was more than just one win. I am very happy for Pappas, especially in the second half, when he played on offense and on defense in the correct way. He works hard to be ready for that. He played great. But the whole team played very good defense. We passed the ball. We didn’t make open shots, but played much better in the second half.”

“Thanks to all the fans who came to the game tonight. Without them it would be impossible to win the game, and congratulations on the win. I think it was a very nice game. In the second half, we changed the rhythm of the game because we improved our defense a lot. Behind this, we found a way to come back into the game. The game was difficult when Fenerbahce went up by 8 points, but in the last part of the game, we believed in victory, that we can do it, and in the end the last shot by Nikos gave us the important win.”

OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO

Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul

“There were two absolutely different parts of the game. First half, I believe we played good, we had many points in transition, controlling our offense and our defensive balance. Panathinaikos always tried to be aggressive, starting from Calathes. We tried to prepare our team for that. Finally, the key was we had 5 steals and 7 turnovers in the first half, and in the second half 0 steals and 7 turnovers. If you see the stats, it is easy to recognize that they had 7 more possessions and 3 more free throws in a game decided by one shot. By the way, it was a great shot by Pappas. Congrats to him for the shot and for the way that he played the whole game. I warned my players at halftime that it will be a different game in the second half, that Panathinaikos will be very aggressive and we have to be ready for that. We played much slower in the second half. We controlled the whole game, they had only one lead [before the last minute]. Congrats to Panathinaikos, they played a very aggressive game.”

Players

DENMON, MARCUS

Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens

“I think that defensively that’s the way we need to play. Fenerbahce is a good team, and well organized. I think in the second half we came out and held them below 25 points in the second half. That’s a key to our team. We have a lot of versatile guys, and we are bgoing to hang our hats on the defensive end. We have not been happy with our defense, but tonight we came out and did it.”

PAPPAS, NIKOS

Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens

“It is a one more win, an important win. We needed this result because of the loss in Moscow. We have tough games in front of us. We have to keep working together, and keep trying and see where it takes us at the end of the season. My performance? My teammates trusted me to play the last offense, trusted me during the game. Tonight it works, and another game someone else will make the shot.”